Impact

News agencies, press freedom organizations, and advocacy groups came together this month to address mounting concerns over the hiring and safety of freelance journalists. While dangers to freelancers have always been present, last year international journalists made up nearly a quarter of journalists killed, about double the proportion CPJ has documented in recent years. The murders of freelancers James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and Kenji Goto by the militant group Islamic State prompted an unprecedented collaboration between stakeholders. CPJ is proud to have helped draft guidelines for a global standard that will protect freelancers whom outlets are increasingly dependent on for stories, especially from hostile environments.

When masked gunmen raided the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7, killing 12 people including eight journalists, the media turned to the Committee to Protect Journalists to put the attack in context and comment on the repercussions for press freedom worldwide. CPJ's experts and directors gave comments to TheNew York Times, NPR, Reuters TV, Yahoo News with Katie Couric, BBC World Service, France 24, and The Associated Press, among others. CPJ responded as soon as details of the attack emerged, and its regional experts helped provide a global perspective on the issues surrounding the attack.

The past year has been a traumatic one for the press, with the high number of journalists killed and imprisoned underscoring the perils of a profession that requires being on the front line of history. Amid growing animosity by governments, and the threats posed by organized crime and militant groups such as the Islamic State, 2014 has been a difficult year for journalists. But the Committee to Protect Journalists has worked to help those in trouble and advise others.

In an unprecedented meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other officials in early October, a joint delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute raised concerns about the climate for press freedom in Turkey, including the imprisonment of journalists and online restrictions. In the meetings, officials defended their country's press freedom record but agreed to take steps to improve conditions for journalists.

President Barack Obama hosted the first US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington D.C. this month. The discussion focused on trade and investment, but CPJ helped put press freedom on the agenda. At a time of unprecedented growth and change in Africa, journalists are under increasing pressure, with spikes in repression from Ethiopia to Nigeria.

Muzaffar Suleymanov, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia Research Associate, traveled to Kiev on July 6 on a week-long fact-finding mission and spoke to more than a dozen local and international journalists about press freedom conditions in the country. Suleymanov also met with journalists who had covered or were covering the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine.

In the run-up to World Refugee Day on June 20, CPJ brought the human toll of exile to the fore in its annual special report on exiled journalists. The report found that Syria, Ethiopia, and Eritrea are responsible for the most cases of journalists who flee.

The report spotlights the violence, imprisonment, and threats that have forced journalists into exile from some of the world's most repressive nations. Told in a narrative form, the report follows the stories of eight journalists from around the world who were forced to flee their homes.

CPJ board member María Teresa Ronderos
and CPJ Senior Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría traveled to Brasilia this
month to launch a new special report, "Halftime
for the Brazilian press," and met with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, as
well as other high-level government officials. CPJ also presented President Rousseff
with the report's recommendations.

Brazil is home to a vibrant investigative press, but
journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free, CPJ's report
found. Brazil is the 11th deadliest country in the world for journalists, and
at least 10 have been killed in direct reprisal for their work since President
Rousseff came to power, CPJ research shows.

In the lead-up to World Press Freedom Day, CPJ has started a
campaign
highlighting 10 emblematic cases of journalists in prison and calling on
authorities to release them and all other reporters being held in relation to
their work. CPJ believes that no journalist should be imprisoned for doing
their job.

You, too, can add your voice. Join CPJ in calling on
authorities in repressive countries to #FreeThePress and release all
journalists held for no other crime than covering issues in the public
interest.